Reminds me of back in 1988 or so when we needed an awful call to beat North Texas (then 1aa) at home. Our guy didn't get either foot down in the endzone and the ref was standing right there and missed it.
Here's my take. The refs didn't do their f%$#ing job. His forward progressed had stopped long before the ball was pulled out. They had him in their clutches and Gray was not able to move at all. His legs were stopped and he couldn't go any further. He was held like that for around 4 seconds. They didn't blow the whistle so it's a fumble. But if the refs had done their job and blew the whistle when they seen he was stopped then it wouldn't be a fumble. So it all shook out right. I'm glad the refs incompetence on that play didn't cost us a win. But then again it's not saying much when 6 of the points we score in the 1 point victory was from a hail mary.
And without the interfering, the drive probably continues. I get the complaints about the fumble (and Davis not being tossed). But the "face masking" penalty was legit, as were the interference calls. There's a reason that you penalize the defense for these infractions.
And 76% of 18,000 voters on ESPN say ISU was robbed on the play. I thought it would be more. I do agree that the video is inconclusive, only because the ball is not actually seen leaving Gray's hands. I do however believe that the ISU player has possession of the ball before Gray's *** hits the ground and that's conclusive enough for me to think they got screwed.
Oh my opinion is quite conclusive. I'm sure ISU is more concerned about the refs, but my opinion is all that really matters to me and it is indisputable.
One thing no one has talked about is that the reaction from brain to head to hands to whistle isn't instantaneous. The whistle blew after the play but clearly the ref decided that forward process had stopped and was late blowing the whistle. Was it? I've seen it blown dead faster and I've seen it keep going longer. But clearly he wasn't moving forward. I think he definitely fumbled and it was a blown call. Not overturning it was also the right call because there was no definitive view that clearly showed the ball out and no part of his body down. Had there been a definitive view, it shouldn't have been a TD, it would be Iowa State's ball at the spot of the fumble, because you can't allow a play to continue if the whistle blew it dead, even if the whistle was late. And btw... calling Mack out for trying to shake hands??? Seriously, that's just stupid. You're just looking for things to gripe about in a game where you didn't really have to look hard.
I've watched this 50 times. It's not that obvious to me if forward progress was stopped and if the ball was ripped out before he went down. The first time I watched it appeared they were both in possession of the ball as Gray hit. I watched it again and it appeared that it was pulled out just before. So either way, I can understand their call. What I can't understand is the refs seemed to have no idea what was going on or where the ball was.
If you ever "want" Texas to lose, then just turn in your Longhorn card and go be an Aggie or Sooner. I want Mack to move on as much as anyone but that never means wanting Texas to lose EVER! I swear some of you have lost any sense of perspective. it was losers like you at the end of the Akers era who "wanted" Texas to lose so things could get better who crippled our program for a decade and a half until Mack came along and resurrected it.
To me, winning on a bad call is probably as bad as losing on a bad call. But oddly, I don't feel bad about the call last night. While no doubt he was stripped and his knee, elbow, etc did not touch, it felt like the play was over. Clearly Gray's forward progress had been stopped and he was being held up. His knees may have never touched the ground. By the reaction of most of the players on both teams, it would seem that they would agree with this take.
As is prevalent in today's society, it's not what the people want, but what a few people want that counts. I think it was a fumble, but that doesn't matter now does it.
If the officials had called it correctly it would have been a 99 yard fumble recovery for a TD. We won by being the beneficiary of a bad call. It's not our fault, but it doesn't make the win feel very good.
